BMW M3 and M5 Performance Editions Revealed, M7 Possible

BMW's M division has two new real-life models and one theoretical one. The Bavarian automaker released special-edition M3 and M5 cars for British markets this week, and revealed that an M7 sedan may be in the works.

BMW M7 Sedan?

BMW has long avoided tarting up the famous executive sedan, instead referring customers to Alpina, which takes the stock 7 Series and creates the 507-hp Alpina B7 Biturbo sedan. But TheDetroitBureau.com reports that BMW is mulling an about-face, especially with demand for such a car coming from both American and Chinese markets.

In all honesty such a car would be pretty easy to make: the existing BMW M5 uses a tuned version of the same 4.4-liter twin-turbo V-8 that's under the hood of the 750i sedan, and BMW still has a V-12 available to shoehorn into the 7 Series' engine bay…because it already does: the 760Li sedan has a 537 horsepower, 6.0-liter with turbos. A possible M7 could use an uprated version of either one.

BMW M3 and M5 Performance Editions

If theoretical M cars aren't your thing at the moment, however, there's also good news: the M3 and M5 Performance Editions we've heard about before are headed to market in the United Kingdom. The M3, which costs 74,080 British pounds ($113,898), adds the Competition Package, a variable rear differential, a dual-clutch transmission, and 19-inch wheels, as well as a Harman/Kardon sound system and other interior accoutrements. The M5, meanwhile, costs 95,140 pounds ($146,344) and gets 20-inch wheels, M sport seats, comfort access, and a BMW Professional sound system.There will only be 30 copies of each model, and the special edition models' calling card will be a matte paint job. The cars will be available only in BMW Individual Frozen White, BMW Individual Frozen Blue, and BMW Individual Japan Red with a Frozen Red wrap. On the inside the M5 will get Black Merino upholstery, and the M3 will get Black Novillo leather with available contrast stitching.

hmm, if the new M3 has a N/A I6 and is lighter then maybe. The C63 is truly a savage beast though and worth considering over the M products, the ATS-V better have an eight cylinder if it wants to compete with ze Germans.

Well...the S8 wasn't REALLY a hyper-tuned version, its pretty much the same to 60 to as a S8 W12, for a car to be compared to the S63 and S65 AMGs, you would need a RS8, which I don't believe don't exist yet. ie. RS4 competes with M3, S4 competes with 335i. RS6 competes with M5, S6 competes with 550i etc

GM used to invest nothing into its R&D, and make low quality, badge engineered shit, look where it has gotten them now. Yes they maximized their short term profit and no one bought them once the Asians and Europeans made better stuff. Now look at where GM today is going with new models that are actually competitive, yes they spent money on R&D thus didn't maximize their short term profits, but the are definitely re-establishing themselves when people are shopping for cars again.

I agree. The 12 E60 AMGs built in '93 and '94 with the M119 AMG V8 were insane and truly special, although AMG was a separate tuning house back then like Alpina is today to BMW. I do miss the 190E Cosworth though, it competed head to head with the E30 back in the day and it's often forgotten for its racing heritage and pedigree.

Chimp I am in B-school so I know what you meant, but you over looked a few things:
1. M division has always been profitable, both through production cars and its sales of race cars
2. Brand value, ever wonder why McD and Coke is worth many many times their value in assets? The value of the brand, same concept goes for M
3. X and 7 series are the niche of a niche brand that is M. How many will they sell compared to the consequences stated above? I'll give this one to BMW though cuz they probably have a team of number crunchers
4. Lifetime value of a customer, you grandfather had a Ford, your dad bought a Ford, you buy a Ford. Get it? A loyal customer will buy M cars many times over in their lifetime. Whereas 10 years ago I will def pick the M3 out of C class AMG or RS4. Now I truly will consider the options when I am in the market for one of those cars.
There are so so many brands that used to dominate the markets in the past century that went out of business because they lost their connection to their core customers. Now I am not saying M will suffer the same fate, but I certainly wouldn't hire someone like you to manage my business if all you care about is profit and not the brand.
Ever wonder why so many companies care about giving to charities and philanthropy? Do you honestly think they care about that shit? And Nike spent a ton of money to recover its image as a company that uses sweatshop labor back in the '90s? No! But they have to do it anyway to preserve their brand image.

A "real" M5: Take the current M5, and do the following with it:
(a) Give it a carbon-fiber roof and trunk-lid (and take out the steel roof and trunk-lid).
(b) Take out all adjustability for the steering and suspension. One great setting is enough thank you.

I agree with M Power. The M cars used to be a lot more special. A lot more extreme. Now the new M cars are to appeal to the posers who can't/won't drive a stick.
The same thing happened to AMG though. An AMG sedan used to be crazy and special. Now AMG is more like a trim line, with the biggest engine and a slightly firmer suspension--only slightly firmer as to not upset the posers who buy these cars.

I don't know, M, just isn't what it used to be. Sure performance and all is still there, but now that they're really trying hard with the family cars and gas mileage with all their other cars, they're pushing the M division into the darkness, little by little. In addition, these performance editions are a bit pointless.
And doesn't the alpina B7 take car of what the M7 should be? I'd be surprised if the m7 had better performance than the b7; it's already pretty heavy and there's not much you can do to it without ruining it.

Hm, I never thought of that before, of why there was never an M7. I knew the S class and the A8 had tuned versions, but never thought of BMW.
Lexus LS-F and Hyundai Equus R Spec Track Pack are next I guess. And a Caddy STS-V will arise from the ashes.

The Goob got a chance to drive a pre-production M7 recently, one of the surprising new features is that,
instead of faux engines sounds being played through the speakers, the M7 will feature personalized messages from Stuart Smalley reaffirming the driver's confidence and sexual prowess every 2 minutes.
Overall, an improvement over the M5, but still not the Goob's cup of tea.

who cares if it has lost its soul?? seriously.. the idea of any given corporation or any business is to make money.. if the M division didn't make money in the interest of "keeping its soul" it would no longer exist due to the inability to finance it.. therefore, what they are doing with the M division actually makes sense.. can't have an M3 or an M5 if the M division doesn't exist..

I have long wondered why BMW didn't have an M7 when Mercedes had two AMG S-class models. I'd go with the V12 for the 7. It may be heavier but let's be honest nobody buys a 2.5 ton car two carve corners.

Ya now they really diluted the M name, used to be calling card to high performance sports sedans and coupes now gets slapped on anything from SUVs to heavy executive sedans. Way to go BMW, the M division may be making more money, but it has lost its soul.